Spot prices for maleic anhydride (MA) briquettes in southeast Asia largely softened for the period of mid-February to mid-May, in tandem with trends observed in feedstock benzene and butane prices.
In end-March to April, China-origin MA was available in the export market amid weak Chinese domestic demand from downstream butanediol (BDO) and unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) sectors. Material from China was sold at lower prices than MA material of other origins in the region, resulting in other keen sellers in the region lowering their offers. The drop in MA prices was thus steeper than the drop in feedstock benzene or butane prices.
Thereafter, MA prices remained low amid a lack of supporting factors to reverse the downtrend.
Demand from downstream UPR converters in the region was stable-to-soft amid flat end-user demand.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese producer Nan Ya Plastics started molten MA production at its new 60,000 tonne/year MA plant in end-February, while partial solid MA production started in around early May amid some fine-tuning of process efficiency.
Updated to mid-May 2013